Ivory Coast 0
Zambia 0
After extra time. Zambia won 8-7 on penalties
Ivory Coast Barry - Tiene, K Toure, Bamba, Gosso - Zokora (Ya Konan 75), Tiote, Y Toure (Bony 87), Gervinho - Kalou (Gradel 63), Drogba (c).
Booked: Tiote, Bamba.
Zambia Mweene - Musonda (Mulenga 12 (F Katongo 74)), Sunzu, Himoonde, Nkausu - Sinkala, Lungu, Chansa, Kalaba - C Katongo (c), Mayuka.
Booked: Mulenga.
Referee: Badara Diatta (Senegal)
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
TV: Eurosport and ITV4. Kick-off: 7.30pm GMT.
Penalties: 1-0 Tiote scored,
1-1 C Katongo scored,
2-1 Bony scored,
2-2 Mayuka scored,
3-2 Bamba scored,
3-3 Chansa scored,
4-3 Gradel scored,
4-4 F Katongo scored,
5-4 Drogba scored,
5-5 Mweene scored,
6-5 Tiene scored,
6-6 Sinkala scored,
7-6 Ya Konan scored,
7-7 Lungu scored,
7-7 K Toure saved,
7-7 Kalaba missed,
7-7 Gervinho missed,
8-7 Sunzu scored
ZAMBIA won the African Cup of Nations for the first time in history on an emotional night of destiny in Libreville in Gabon.
In April 1993,
18 Zambian footballers, four coaches, the FA chairman and two others died when a plane - on its way to a World Cup qualifier in Senegal - crashed into the Atlantic Ocean just off Libreville.
Now, almost 19 years later, another fine squad of Zambians rule the roost in Africa after beating odds-on favourites Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties.
Stoppila Sunzu struck the 18th - and decisive - spot-kick of the shoot-out to become the toast of Lusaka as a southern African nation won the tournament for the first time since 1996.
The Final itself had finished 0-0, having flickered into life at times without ever fully catching alight.
Zambia started well with Nathan Sinkala drawing a save from Boubacar Barry within the first couple of minutes after a nicely-worked corner routine.
But, by the end of the half, Ivory Coast had imposed themselves on the game and, on the half hour mark, Yaya Toure should have done much better after being set up by Didier Drogba.
The second period was notable for its lack of quality around the box from both sides - until undoubtedly the best chance of the whole match fell to the Ivorians' lynchpin Drogba following a foul on Gervinho.
The Chelsea forward fluffed it, though - blazing his penalty way over the bar with 20 minutes left.
Having seen their skipper and star striker miss so horribly from 12 yards, the anxiety among the Ivorian players only seemed to increase further, and they struggled to make the breakthrough in the rest of the match.
They knew that, in the absence of Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria,
this edition of the Cup of Nations was Ivory Coast's best chance of becoming African champions for the first time since 1992.
Zambia, though, had been playing exceptionally right from the start of the tournament, beating another of the fancied sides, Senegal, on the opening day.
The Chipolopolo went on to top Group A as Senegal crashed out without a point despite fielding a four-pronged attack of Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse, Moussa Sow and captain Mamadou Niang.
However, the early part of the tournament was most notable for the fine performances of the two hosts.
Equatorial Guinea belied their lowly ranking of 151 to beat Libya and the Senegalese in their first two Nations Cup finals matches on their way to qualifying behind Zambia in Group A.
Gabon did even better, winning all three of their matches against Niger, Morocco, and Group C favourites Tunisia.
Indeed, the 3-2 comeback win over the Moroccans was particularly memorable as it was only secured in the 97th minute after the North Africans had looked to snatch a point by scoring a harshly-awarded penalty in the 93rd.
But the hosts' brave runs were ended on successive days in the quarter finals as Equatorial Guinea were beaten 3-0 by Ivory Coast, and the Gabonese were edged out on penalties by Mali.
In the semi finals, Ivory Coast won their fifth successive match without conceding a goal as they beat the Malians with a solitary goal from Gervinho's on the stroke of half time.
Meanwhile, Zambia - who had matched the Ivorians' result in the quarters with a 3-0 win of their own against another surprise package, Sudan - also won 1-0 in the semis, against Ghana.
It had been a much tighter occasion, though, with Emmanuel Mayuka scoring with just 12 minutes left - and only after Asamoah Gyan had missed a penalty for the 2010 World Cup quarter finalists.
And so, with Gyan having missed from the spot in the semis and with Drogba doing the same in the Final, it really did seem that fate had decreed that it would be the Zambians who would succeed.
Herve Renard's men still needed to hold their nerve in the shoot-out, though, especially when Drogba had made some amends for his earlier miss by scoring the fifth penalty.
That left Zambian keeper Kennedy Mweene needing to score - but he did not seem to feel the pressure at all, wrong-footing his opposite number, Barry, and slotting the ball in the corner.
With the shoot-out now in sudden death, it seemed that the first failure would be a decisive miss - and the writing was on the wall for Ivory Coast when Kolo Toure had his kick saved.
But Rainford Kalaba could not handle the pressure either, and he blazed over to leave the score still at 7-7.
Incredibly, after 14 successful penalties, there was a third successive miss as Gervinho added another chapter to his woeful season by sending the ball high and wide.
This time, the Zambians were not in the mood for charity as Sunzu fired past Barry to send the Zambians into an emotional frenzy.
Frenchman Renard
dedicated his team's victory to the 1993 squad and his FA chairman Kalusha Bwalya who only survived the crash because he played in Europe with PSV Eindhoven.
Renard said: "I told them if we got to the final we would play in Gabon where the plane crashed. There was a special significance in that. They found the strength. I don't know where."
Fighting back the tears, he added: "Kalusha was one of the best Zambian players of the last century. Then he was coach of the national team, now our president.
"He knows how terrible this crash was for the nation. I want to dedicate this title to him, he gave me my chance when nobody knew me."
Nobody really gave Zambia much of a chance either - but this wonderful underdog story was always destined to have
a happy ending.
FULL AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS FIXTURES/RESULTS
GROUP A
| TV | Date | | Venue |
| Eurosport | Sat 21 Jan, 18:30 | EQUATORIAL GUINEA 1-0 LIBYA | Bata |
| Eurosport | Sat 21 Jan, 21:00 | SENEGAL 1-2 ZAMBIA | Bata |
| Eurosport | Wed 25 Jan, 17:15 | LIBYA 2-2 ZAMBIA | Bata |
| Eurosport | Wed 25 Jan, 20:15 | EQUATORIAL GUINEA 2-1 SENEGAL | Bata |
| Eurosport | Sun 29 Jan, 18:00 | EQUATORIAL GUINEA 0-1 ZAMBIA | Malabo |
| Eurosport2 | Sun 29 Jan, 18:00 | LIBYA 2-1 SENEGAL | Bata |
| Group A Table | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| ZAMBIA (Q) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 7 |
| EQUATORIAL GUINEA (Q) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Libya | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Senegal | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
GROUP B
| TV | Date | | Venue |
| Eurosport | Sun 22 Jan, 16:00 | IVORY COAST 1-0 SUDAN | Malabo |
| Eurosport2 | Sun 22 Jan, 19:00 | BURKINA FASO 1-2 ANGOLA | Malabo |
| Eurosport | Thu 26 Jan, 16:00 | SUDAN 2-2 ANGOLA | Malabo |
| ITV4* | Thu 26 Jan, 19:00 | IVORY COAST 2-0 BURKINA FASO | Malabo |
| Eurosport | Mon 30 Jan, 18:00 | SUDAN 2-1 BURKINA FASO | Bata |
| Eurosport2 | Mon 30 Jan, 18:00 | IVORY COAST 2-0 ANGOLA | Malabo |
(*this match will also be televised on Eurosport)
| Group B Table | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| IVORY COAST (Q) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 9 |
| SUDAN (Q) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Angola | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Burkina Faso | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
GROUP C
| TV | Date | | Venue |
| Eurosport | Mon 23 Jan, 16:00 | GABON 2-0 NIGER | Libreville |
| Eurosport | Mon 23 Jan, 19:00 | MOROCCO 1-2 TUNISIA | Libreville |
| Eurosport | Fri 27 Jan, 16:00 | NIGER 1-2 TUNISIA | Libreville |
| Eurosport | Fri 27 Jan, 19:00 | GABON 3-2 MOROCCO | Libreville |
| Eurosport | Tue 31 Jan, 18:00 | GABON 1-0 TUNISIA | Franceville |
| Eurosport2 | Tue 31 Jan, 18:00 | NIGER 0-1 MOROCCO | Libreville |
| Group C Table | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| GABON (Q) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 9 |
| TUNISIA (Q) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| Morocco | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Niger | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
GROUP D
| TV | Date | | Venue |
| Eurosport | Tue 24 Jan, 16:00 | GHANA 1-0 BOTSWANA | Franceville |
| Eurosport | Tue 24 Jan, 19:00 | MALI 1-0 GUINEA | Franceville |
| Eurosport | Sat 28 Jan, 16:00 | BOTSWANA 1-6 GUINEA | Franceville |
| Eurosport | Sat 28 Jan, 19:00 | GHANA 2-0 MALI | Franceville |
| Eurosport | Wed 1 Feb, 18:00 | BOTSWANA 1-2 MALI | Libreville |
| Eurosport2 | Wed 1 Feb, 18:00 | GHANA 1-1 GUINEA | Franceville |
| Group D Table | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| GHANA (Q) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| MALI (Q) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Guinea | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Botswana | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
QUARTER FINALS
| TV | Date | | Venue |
| Eurosport | Sat 4 Feb, 16:00 | ZAMBIA 3-0 SUDAN | Bata |
| ITV4* | Sat 4 Feb, 19:00 | IVORY COAST 3-0 EQUATORIAL GUINEA | Malabo |
| Eurosport | Sun 5 Feb, 16:00 | GABON 1-1 MALI aet (5-4 to MALI on pens) | Libreville |
| Eurosport | Sun 5 Feb, 19:00 | GHANA 2-1 TUNISIA aet | Franceville |
(*this match will also be televised on Eurosport)
SEMI FINALS
| TV | Date | | Venue |
| ITV4* | Wed 8 Feb, 16:00 | ZAMBIA 1-0 GHANA | Bata |
| Eurosport | Wed 8 Feb, 19:00 | IVORY COAST 1-0 MALI | Libreville |
(*this match will also be televised on Eurosport)
THIRD-PLACED PLAYOFF
| TV | Date | | Venue |
| Eurosport | Sat 11 Feb, 19:00 | GHANA 0-2 MALI | Malabo |
FINAL
| TV | Date | | Venue |
| ITV4* | Sun 12 Feb, 19:30 | ZAMBIA 0-0 IVORY COAST
AET. Zambia won 8-7 on pens | Libreville |
(*this match will also be televised on Eurosport)
SCORERS
Seven joint-top scorers on three goals
3 Manucho (Angola), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Cheick Diabate (Mali), Houssine Kharja (Morocco), Christopher Katongo (Zambia), Emmanuel Mayuka (Zambia)
2 John Mensah (Ghana), Andre Ayew (Ghana), Abdoul Camara (Guinea), Sadio Diallo (Guinea), Ahmed Saad Osman (Libya), Ihaab Boussefi (Libya), Mohamed Ahmed Bashir (Sudan), Mudather El Tahir (Sudan), Youssef Msakni (Tunisia)
1 Mateus (Angola), Dipsy Selolwane (Botswana), Mogakolodi Ngele (Botswana), Alain Traore (Burkina Faso), Issiaka Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso), Javier Balboa (Equatorial Guinea), Randy (Equatorial Guinea), Kily (Equatorial Guinea), Stephane N'Guema (Gabon), Daniel Cousin (Gabon), Bruno Mbanangoyé (Gabon), Eric Mouloungui (Gabon), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Ghana), Mamadou Bah (Guinea), Naby Soumah (Guinea), Ibrahama Traore (Guinea), Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast), Wilfried Bony (Ivory Coast), Emmanuel Eboue (Ivory Coast), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), Yao Gervinho (Ivory Coast), Bakaye Traore (Mali), Garra Dembele (Mali), Seydou Keita (Mali), Younes Belhanda (Morocco), William Ngounou (Niger), Dame N'Doye (Senegal), Moussa Sow (Senegal), Deme N'Diaye (Senegal), Khaled Korbi (Tunisia), Issam Jemaa (Tunisia), Saber Khelifa (Tunisia), Rainford Kalaba (Zambia), James Chamanga (Zambia), Stophira Sunzu (Zambia), Rainford Kalaba (Zambia)
1 own goal Bakary Kone (Burkina Faso) for Ivory Coast
CLASSIFICATION
1 ZAMBIA (beat Ivory Coast 8-7 on pens in Final after 0-0 draw)
2 IVORY COAST (lost v Zambia 7-8 on pens in Final after 0-0 draw)
3 GHANA (lost 0-1 v Zambia in the semi finals)
4 MALI (lost 0-1 v Ivory Coast in the semi finals)
5 GABON (lost 4-5 on penalties v Mali in the quarter finals after 1-1 draw)
6 TUNISIA (lost 1-2 aet v Ghana in the quarter finals)
7 EQUATORIAL GUINEA (lost 0-3 v Ivory Coast in quarter finals)
8 SUDAN (lost 0-3 v Zambia in quarter finals)
9 GUINEA (eliminated at group stage: four points, +4 GD)
10 LIBYA (eliminated at group stage: four points, 0 GD)
11 ANGOLA (eliminated at group stage: four points, -1 GD)
12 MOROCCO (eliminated at group stage: three points)
13 SENEGAL (eliminated at group stage: no points, -3 GD)
14 BURKINA FASO (eliminated at group stage: no points, -4 GD, two goals)
15 NIGER (eliminated at group stage: no points, -4 GD, one goal)
16 BOTSWANA (eliminated at group stage: no points, -7 GD)
